Delhi: 12th – 13th April

Red Fort

Laundry occuring in the river - along with the Buffalo!!!

Buffalo in the river:

Hymayun’s Tomb

Check out the umbrella - walking shade! Fort

Taj Mahal

Entrance to the Taj Mahal Delhi - check out the metal detector in the road! Sunday the others returned to London and we went to Delhi. We had one full day in Delhi so we caught the train up to Agra and hired a car (with driver) and a guide for the day and visited the Taj Mahal, Fort, Hymayun’s tomb, jewellery, carpet weaving and handicrafts. The train left at 6.20am and returned at 8.30 pm so it was a long day. On the train up there we saw all sorts of accommodation from houses to shacks to grass huts. All along the train track people where defecating. It appeared as if it was the nominated toilet area due to the number of people going in total oblivion to the train. All throughout India we noticed men pulling over on the side of the road and urinating – whenever and wherever they needed to go. During the day it got to 42 degrees – so hot! Whilst we where waiting at the train station the power kept going out and we would be standing on the platform in complete darkness! Power cuts are common in India, happens about 10 -15 times a day – at least! All of the hotels we stayed in and restaurants we ate in had back up generators so you had the power cut but within seconds the generators would run. The train station had a few pilot lights but that was all! Delhi is much busier than Vizag and Luknow so we where expecting to see more infrastructure but where surprised that where wasn’t – although a lot more begging! We saw the Red Fort before leaving Delhi on Tuesday – we caught an auto out there – a bit of an experience – but heaps of fun. India was an amazing holiday, full of eye opening experiences!

Lucknow: 10th – 11th April

Josh with Mayanks uncle and the loaded weapon! The eating area outside - me and my new friend - Mayanks cousin

Outise the reception

The stage that Mayank and Janaki sat on in the reception so everyone could come up and have thier photo taken - just like we did!

In the hotel ready for the reception

Our first attempt to get to Lucknow for the wedding reception did not go well. Our flight from Goa to Delhi was 2 hours delayed. When we arrived Janaki and I ran through the airport to get to the next flight while the guys waited for the bags – we had to leave the arrival section in Delhi and go out the airport and around the car park to Departures. So we did this, pushing and yelling about being late, however, all of this to no avail – they would not let us check-in, saying we where too late. In reality this was probably true as the plane was taking off in 20 minutes and this was only due to a delay. We then spent the next 2 hours at ticketing with Mayank yelling at the flight company that delayed us demanding that they reimburse us our lost airfare and then re-schedule with the airline for another flight – it has to be said the man was successful – very impressive. The only problem was that the next flight was not until 5.50am the following morning – it was now about 10pm. All exhausted by this stage we decided to go to a local hotel – one recommended by the flight company that delayed us. When we arrived, they had obviously been notified of our arrival because along with the exorbitant fees that where now only the very easily adjusted price board, there where 5 people all lined up waiting to check us in! The accommodation was not very clean at all! We stayed in a room with Jason, who is already quite hyper vigilant about hygiene. He inspected the sheets – we found blood stains and the towels, originally white where now cream and lets not forget the mosquito’s that where everywhere! He slept on a mattress on the floor, however, after some serious stressing from him about rats, bugs etc all 3 of us slept on the bed – fully clothed for fear of being bitten! Jason refused sheets, pillows and blankets and kept his shoes on! When Josh turned over in the night Jason was lying flat on his back with pillow cases on his arms as he kept getting bitten and didn’t want the sheet to touch him! We left the hotel at 3.30am and go on a plane to Lucknow. The story does not stop there – the hotel we where staying in, in Lucknow was recommended by lonely planet as good budget accommodation, however, when we got there it was far from good – in fact, a lot like the last place. After much deliberating and some help from Mayank’s parents we – with Jason moved hotel to a great 5 star for some much needed sleep! The reception was held that evening and was once again a fantastic event. The highlight of the evening was the attendance of an MP and his accompanying 3 armed body guards and the commemorative discharge of a fire arm directly above our heads!!

Goa: 6th April – 9th April

Shisha pipe

Josh driving Janaki on the jet ski

Plantation visit

The dog is in the water

Snakes are in the water!

Lunch at the plantation Cold water being poured down my back - a welcome to my home ritual!

Josh patting the elephant

The dogs getting a bit of sun on the beach - the dogs are everywhere.

Check out the sign on Baga beach:

Checkout the fishing boat! Boat we went dolphin watching on Oldest chruch in India Old Goa Church where St Francis of Assisi is buried We went to Goa with Mayank and Janaki and met a friend of Mayank’s from Hong Kong – Jason and stayed for 3 days. It was even hotter in Goa than Vizag so we did a lot of sightseeing in an air coned car – which they charge more for! In fact it was too hot to spend much time at all at the beach and certainly no sunbathing! In the evenings we ate on the beach, one night around from our hotel and the other two nights on Baga beach sitting close to the water – so beautiful. It stayed really hot and humid at night also but with no sun shining it made the evenings really nice. During the days we did sightseeing with a hired driver – the driving over here is crazy, the cars weave all over the road and travel on whichever side of he road they choose and honk their horn, in fact I think the only road rule that exists is the bigger the horn the more right of way you have! When we asked the driver he said the horn is used all the time as it means ‘move out of the way I’m coming’ – only problem is everybody uses the horn and cars are everywhere! We saw a couple of Hindi temples whilst we where here and went to a plantation, where we learned about all the spices and their properties. The others took a jet ski out on the beach – I left them to it and fell asleep under the sun umbrella. We took an evening boat cruise – which was an experience in itself – the boat played Hindi disco music and the ‘crew’ kept getting everybody up to dance! It had lights, a live deejay and all the bells and whistles – very entertaining! Although not in the way we expected! We also took another boat ride during the day to dolphin watch – we did actually see a couple so we where quite pleased. Everywhere you go there are Buffalo, cows and goats walking all over the road – Oh and dogs! Even in the middle of a busy road, everybody just drives around them! The animals are mostly owned by nobody and just eat and drink what they can find. There are also dogs all over the beach, when you are lying on the sun lounger they come underneath for shade. Goa is a lot more western so Josh and I where pleased to have our first no curry meal here of prawns and fries! Also our only meal of meat – even if it was only fish! The food is beautiful here in India, although very hot – mostly too hot for me! We haven’t been brave enough to eat meat, but you don’t need to as the variety in the vegetarian curies are amazing. On our last night in Goa we also ate on Baga beach then we found a night club to have a dance at before being driven home at speeds of up to 130km! Because by 2pm no cars where on the road – we made a trip that took us 45 min on the way out only 13 min on the way back!!!! This is the same taxi that once we got in wanted to charge us more (on top of the negotiated fee) for AC so we declined and wound the windows down, making our own AC!!!

India April 2010: Visakhapatnam: The Wedding 1st April – 5th April 2010

On the plane to Goa. The local water supply! Submarine we looked around Park in Vizag - these are two of thier gods - it's a lovers park - ahhh! Beach in Vizag - the locals wanted their photo with us!

Vizag

At the wedding ceremony Fire lighting part of the wedding ceremony

Throwing rice on each others heads.

Putting leaves on each others head at 8.41pm for the wed bit.

Mayank entering the wedding ceremony - a coconut and flame going before him

Janaki's first wedding outfit Mine and Santhy's henna (Janaki's sister) Mayank and Josh in their wedding gear Josh and I waiting with Mayank in the hotel room Getting my henna done at Janaki's parents house Thursday night after work we flew with Air India to Delhi. My experience began on the flight when I ate what I thought was a green bean and turned out to be a green chilli – my mouth was on fire! Not a good start! We landed in Delhi where we had our last dose of meat – KFC and met Mayank and his family and flew to Vishkhapatnam (South India). Saturday was the wedding day so we went to Janaki’s parent’s house and watched her get ready. I got henna done. We watched the procession leave the house – a band was playing, Janaki was carrying a coconut (instead of flowers in Hindu weddings - its good luck) and they left in a procession of cars. At 5pm we went back to the hotel for the wedding, where the ceremony went on until 11pm. We kept Mayank company whilst Janaki and the families began with Poojah’s (prayers) and Mayank’s family gave her a sari to wear for the wedding. Then Janaki returned to get changed whilst Mayank went down for Poojah’s and then sat with a sheet in front of him so he cannot see Janaki until exactly 8.41pm which was the auspicious time for them to wed. The sheet was then moved away. (In an arranged marriage this would be the first time the bride and groom see each other!). The marriage is marked by the priest sticking a leaf to each of their heads (as opposed to rings in a Christian wedding). People who where already married ‘blessed’ them by throwing rice on them. There where other rituals completed during the ceremony, all for different reasons, some of them are used to get the couple ‘acquainted’ the one we liked the best was them throwing rice on each other. The rituals where all finished by about 10pm, then Mayank, Janaki and their families could eat the meal provided (no eating on the wedding day for anyone involved). The rest of the guests (including us) could eat throughout the ceremony in an adjourning room. We went to bed about 1pm – a truly interesting day, the ceremony and all the decorations very beautiful. Whilst in Vizag. we hired a car and a driver for the day and Josh and I went sightseeing. We saw the beach, the film studios (where they make Tollywood films/TV shows), the park and an old submarine. Everywhere we went people asked to take our photos – not many foreigners in Vizag!